Kobe Bryant Biography

I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1978 to Pamela and Joe Bryant. I have two sisters, Shaya and Sharia, who are both great athletes.

The reason I have the name Kobe is unusual, and I love it. As part of our family lore, my grandmom told me when she first heard my name, she thought, "What in the world were Pam and Joe thinking naming (me) Kobe; perhaps they'll have time to change it before the birth certificate is registered. Maybe they'll give him a more conventional name." I'm happy to report my parents prevailed. My name's international flavor has served me well as I travel the globe playing basketball. I received a letter from Ghana, and the young man who wrote said his father's name is Kobe. Also, last year when I visited Japan, I got to visit the Kobe region, the source of my name. I loved Japan. It was beautiful and majestic, and the people of Kobe, who are still recovering from the earthquake of 1997, were friendly and quite knowledgeable about the NBA.

As a schoolboy, I learned the fundamentals of basketball in Italy, but when I was eight or nine, basketball was not my only sport of choice. I was playing a lot of soccer at that age, too. I loved both sports. I think two things contributed to my choosing to concentrate solely on basketball. One, my annual trips back to Philly to visit with family and friends, and two, my growth spurt beginning around age 11.

In Philly, soccer was not big. Basketball was. The only problem was the play was different on the Philly courts from anything I'd seen in Italy. At first, I didn't understand the school-yard rules, the trash talking, the machismo. But I learned fast how to handle myself playing Philly ball. I'd say the first big jump in my basketball skills occurred from when I was about 11 to age 13. It was at age 13 that I knew I could play with anyone. It was also at this age that I could finally beat my sisters, who are both outstanding basketball and volleyball players. My dad could still handle me, but he started cheating around this time, leaning on me, using his weight advantage to post me up. He cut me no slack. This went on until...